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Updated on
June 24, 2008,
L.D.
asks from
Bethlehem, PA
on
June 21, 2008

13 Month Old Teething Badly

Hello Ladies! My just about 13month old is teething really badly. He is getting his two bottom eye teeth? and is miserable. I have been giving him tylenol occasionally for the pain and picked up some teething tablets at CVS. Nothing is working. He is sooo fussy I just want to go on a permanent vacation, without him:) My first son seemed to never be bothered by teething so this is new to me. Sometimes I'm like,are you serious is it really that bad?!!! Anyone out there have anything that works for teething, or should I get my plane ticket now:):)ha ha. Leah

More Answers

S.P.
answers from
Philadelphia
on
June 22, 2008

Hi Leah

My daughter is the same age and just started teething, she is getting everything all at once it seems. I have been using infants Motrin alternating with tylenol if the Motrin starts to wear off before I can redose her. The Motrin seems to be so much better for her pain relief. She is not interested in teethers, cold cloths, ice pops. I am using the teething tablets and they too don't seem very effective - so I go with the Motrin, it helps the most, for the longest for us.

Pretty much, it is something you both have to work through sometimes on a minute by minutes basis. There are some things that can help (but sometimes not much). Here are some things that may help you out:
*Try popsicles when it seems really bad. He'll replace extra fluid that he is losing in tears and slober and the cold will feel good on his gums.
*Take a washcloth and rinse it out really well with cold water (to make sure to get rid of excess soap), then ring it out as well as you can and give it to him to chew on.
*Get him a couple baby teething toys. My son had one that would vibrate when he bit down on it. It doesn't always work but that one helped out a bit when he was having a bad time.
*Tylenol and/or Ibuprofen for the pain. Usually we give Tylenol but if it wasn't working or stopped working and it was too soon for another dose but had been a couple hours since his last dose, we would try some Ibuprofen.
*Sometimes just using your finger to rub his gums can help.
*Baby Orajel -- or as I sometimes call it, MOMMY SANITY SAVER -- dab a little on your finger and rub it on the gums where the teeth are coming in. I would usually do this when giving him/her tylenol. The orajel would work immediately giving us some precious pain free time while the tylenol kicked in.

There is nothing full-proof. And sometimes, what helps changes. You may find tylenol helpful one day and that it isn't working at all the next day but maybe a popsicle helps that day. Also, each child is different (we're on number 3. Ours are 8 1/2, almost 4 and 10 months.).

You may want to ask your doctor for a prescription for Viscous Lidocaine. It is a numbing gel that you rub on the gums as needed for pain. It works really well for my son. We use it during the night when he wakes up crying or for quick relief when he seems really uncomfortable until the tylenol kicks in. He is 13 months and already has 12 teeth. I know it can be frustrating, but it is really painful for them. Do you remember how it felt when your wisdom teeth came in? I know I had to take Motrin round the clock until I had them out emergently! Good Luck!

try Motrin. it lasts longer than tylenol and may help more because it's active ingredient is different than tylenol's. there is an infant or children's version. you can ask your pediatrician for dosage becuase it won't be on the bottle.

good luck and hang in there. i've read that if we (adults) grew teeth at our age we would never be able to handle the pain!

Hi. Like Glorida, I've heard that adults wouldn't be able to handle the pain of teething. If you think about it, doesn't it sounds horrible to have a hard tooth forcing its way through your gums? When my son was going through it, our pediatrician said to give him Tylenol every four hours. If you're not comfortable with that, I recommend trying different things until you find something that seems to help him, like cold teethers, frozen washcloths that you tie into a knot or orajel. Good luck!

Well, teething tablets can help but certainly won't eliminate the pain. Think about it like this: a molar is like 4 regular teeth all coming in at once. My daughter had no discomfort with the top two, which came in slowly and gently. But the bottom two were MISERABLE, and they pushed their way out all at once (bleeding gums and all!). Teething tablets helped but not a whole lot.

I only once or twice gave her Tylenol or Motrin (allegedly Motrin is stronger and lasts longer). But I don't like giving her these drugs, especially as they cause constipation in her.

What I found helped was giving her some chamomile in addition to the teething tablets - and when she was very restless and irritable at bedtime, maybe some calms forte (both of these are homeopathic medicines distributed by Hyland's, who makes the teething tablets you found).

Additionally, a little baby orajel will help to numb the pain --- the nighttime formula can only be administered every 4 hours or so, but you may find it works better than the standard formula. Q-tip application helps to get it exactly where it needs to be.

And during the day -- frozen stuff! My daughter loved to chew on small bits of frozen Pedialyte pops, ice cube chunks and frozen blueberries. (Of course, she's also a fan of those when NOT teething, but I think they WERE soothing when she was getting those molars in).

Finally, be sure to offer easy to eat foods. Soft & easy to swallow. Applesauce, yogurt, purees. They'll be less frustrating to a baby with sore gums.

And - YES - it IS that bad. Dentists have been known to say that if as adults we had to go through the pain and discomfort that babies must endure in acquiring teeth, we'd have gone extinct from suicide. Sure, some kids seem not to notice it, but they are in the very small minority. And I predict they have some better coping mechanism that makes them less irritable in some way.

Hi Leah,
I think the eye teeth are the worst--so you'll be home clear after these!
One thing I would do for my son was to take baby clean baby washcloths--wet, fold in quarters, stick in a ziplock bag & freeze them. Then give him one to gnaw on--my son really liked that & it seemed to help him. Good luck--and remember--teething is not forever!